


oh, if the right one came along

by frankchurchillsaysrelax



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Girl next door, Light Angst, and a little romance, boy next door
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 00:23:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10477887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankchurchillsaysrelax/pseuds/frankchurchillsaysrelax
Summary: A  series of short vignettes focusing on Archie and Betty's friendship over the years and the moments they share through their windows.





	

**Author's Note:**

> First Riverdale fic and of course it had to be Archie/Betty. We seem to be one of the smaller ships in the fandom but I hope people can enjoy it even if they don’t ship them.
> 
> I started this several weeks ago so some things are different from canon.

A bright pinprick of light behind her eyelids pulls her from where she’s drifting between wakefulness and sleep. The small red dot moving in random patterns on her bedroom wall is enough to get her out of bed.

How many times had this scene played out over the years, since she was four and her family moved into the house next door to the little red headed boy and his parents.

They’d gotten the laser pointer idea from an old television show; drawing pictures on each other’s walls and creating codes to communicate in secret. Amusing each other on rainy Saturday mornings, her keeping him company when he was in trouble, him comforting her when the nightlight wasn’t enough to keep the monsters away. So many wonderful moments that forged their friendship throughout the years.

The patterns this time are nonsensical, just moving frantically to try and catch her attention. She tiptoes softly to her window and pulls the gauzy curtains back, coming face to face with her heartbroken best friend. The moonlight reflects off his tear stained face and the knot that’s taken shape in her stomach since she first heard the news tightens.

Silently, she points towards her backyard and the fort that houses so many of their memories. He nods quickly before retreating into the darkness of his bedroom.

As quietly as she can, she sneaks past her parents’ and Polly’s rooms, down the stairs, and out the back door. He’s already waiting for her; it’s easier for him to get out now that it’s just his dad.

He says nothing, simply folds himself into her arms and cries.

She only lets her own tears fall when he begs her to never leave him. She buries her face in his neck and promises. _Never ever._

* * *

 

He shouts her name one afternoon. No lasers or phones, just his changing voice squeaking joyfully across their lawns.

She opens the window quickly and hears the catchy beat before he even has a chance to turn up the radio. A song she hasn’t heard in years, an inside joke from long ago, and she couldn’t stop the peal of giggles that bursts from her even if she wanted to.

She races to her own radio already singing at the top of her lungs, not even caring if her mother comes to yell at her. His gangly limbs flail about and her blonde ponytail whips back and forth as they enjoy this moment of youthful silliness.

The moment only lasts a few minutes and soon she is falling back onto her bed, out of breath and still laughing.

How lucky she is to have someone she can be so freely herself with.

* * *

 

The night they take Polly away she doesn’t answer her phone. The blinds are closed tight, the room is dark, yet he can still hear the faint sounds of her pained cries. He wonders how loud they must be for him to hear across all the space between them. He wonders how bad it all must be for her to risk anyone hearing her cry.

He writes her a song that night. It’s probably not very good and he’ll probably never play it for her, but it lets him say all the things he wishes he could say to her.

His best friend’s world has completely shattered and all he has to offer her are a few chords and pretty words strung together to show that he will always be there for her.

* * *

 

Her window has been empty for weeks now. The blinds are up with nothing behind them to shield the world from, the lights are continuously off, but still every night after a long day at one of his dad’s job sites he finds himself habitually looking for the girl next door. He misses her more than he thought he would.

He knows why they sent her away and he knows that it’s for the best. The weeks after Polly left she just wasn’t the same, and things didn’t start getting better until her mom took her to see a doctor. She wouldn’t tell him what happened, but in those last few weeks before summer he could breathe a sigh of relief at the signs of his best friend returning. It was easy to make her smile again, and her energy skyrocketed as she became hyper focused on preparing for the summer internship her mom had gotten her a spot in at the last minute.

She’d needed the distraction, and based on the few texts he’s gotten from her it seemed to be working.

He was happy for her even though he felt like he was drowning, losing himself. He felt like he had no one to talk to anymore, not even Jughead who had been disappearing more and more recently, spending all of his time at the old drive-in.

And then Geraldine saw him. She saw him and she listened. She encouraged him and his music in a way that no one ever had.

And maybe she was right, maybe the reason he never shared his music with _her_ was because he was afraid she would think it was stupid. She’d never say so to his face, she was too nice for that, but wouldn’t he be able to sense her disappointment?

She was pretty much perfect, he’d always thought so. Perfect grades, perfect internship, less than perfect family but she still had two parents who loved and supported her. Would she really be impressed by his mediocre songs?

No, Geraldine was right. He shouldn’t show them to anyone else until he’s improved, and she could help with that; she was a music teacher after all. There was no point in bothering his friends with his insecurities and pipe dreams.

She needed her internship and he needed Geraldine.

* * *

 

The boy is oblivious. The pernicious night of the back to school dance should have proved that, but she’s still surprised by just how far it goes.

It feels wrong watching him change his clothes, even if he is standing perfectly in front of his window like an Abercrombie display case. If she didn’t know any better she’d assume he was doing it on purpose, but she is all too painfully aware that that isn’t the case.

It’s like he doesn’t even remember she’s standing there; on the other side of her window where she’s always been. Until recently that is. Maybe he’d just gotten used to her not being there this summer. Maybe he didn’t miss her as much as she’d missed him. Maybe he’d never noticed her there at all.

She hates that he’s making her question the validity of their entire friendship.

Toni Morrison was right. One summer really can change everything.

* * *

 

Grundy is gone and he doesn’t know how to feel. Geraldine, or Jennifer, or Miss Gibson, whatever he’s supposed to call her now, had turned his world upside down in what he thought was a miraculous way. All it turned out to be was a mess.

After several long talks with his dad he’s starting to understand what happened, but he just can’t wrap his head around it. It didn’t feel like she was using him. She didn’t make him do anything he didn’t want to do, or that he’d thought he’d wanted to do.

How could everything between them have been a lie when it all felt so real?

He still sneaks out some nights. Sometimes he goes running, other times he doesn’t make it past the garage where he will blast music as loud as he can in a pathetic attempt to drown out his thoughts.

Most nights when he’s sneaking back in, no matter how late, the lights are still on in her window. He can see her working on God knows what, papers strewn all over her bed, books open on every available surface. He’s not sure when she finds time to sleep.

He wakes in the middle of the night from a bad dream involving him alone on stage in nothing but a pair of boxers covered in _cats_.

One glance out the window shows him that she’s still awake. They need to be up for school in three hours but she’s still flitting around her room, resolutely reciting something to herself.

When she doesn’t respond to his texts he digs out his old laser pointer from a shoebox under his bed and sends her one of their old secret messages. _Are you awake?_

He’s not sure if she remembers their made-up code until she pops into her window with a tired smile. She starts looking around for something, probably her phone, but he’s feeling playful and he desperately wants to see one of her genuine smiles which have become so rare in these last few weeks, so he quickly draws out another message. _Answer me._

She shakes her head softly and disappears for a few minutes until finally he gets a red dot on his own wall. _What’s up?_

Her brow furrows as she watches him carefully trace the shape of a bed onto her wall, cursing his five year old self for never thinking of a code for _go to sleep._ It takes three tries but finally she catches on and turns back to look at him regretfully. Before she can make excuses he shoots her a look he hopes conveys that he won’t be taking no for an answer.

Another red symbol is drawn on his wall after a few long seconds. _Goodnight._ He waits until she’s turned off the lights before returning the message.

He’s glad they can still communicate this way, through nothing but a laser and a few simple looks. It makes him hopeful that maybe things haven’t changed between them as much as it seems.

* * *

 

He’s grounded, again. She’s trying her best to cheer him up even though her mind is racing with a million other things: homework, her crazy mother, the latest breakthrough in Jason Blossom’s murder…normal teenage things.

But after half an hour of sending the funniest memes and cat videos she can find, the sight of him laughing, even if she can’t hear it, makes it all worth it.The shaking of his shoulders, the way he throws his head back when he finds something particularly funny, the wide grin that she hasn’t seen in so long, and the way his smile reaches his eyes whenever their gazes catch are nothing short of mesmerizing.

The feelings she’s been trying so hard to bury are now clawing their way out, filling her heart with a hope she knows is unhealthy.

When Jughead comes barging through her bedroom door talking a mile a minute and clearly having recently downed one too many cups of coffee, her attention immediately shifts to him. She ignores the buzzing of her phone as the other boy who holds a special place in her heart tells her his newest theory on who might know more than they’re letting on.

Once they’ve cooked up a plan on how to question their suspect, Jughead leaves and she turns back to her window only to find that he is no longer there. She picks up her phone to check her missed texts and a bemused frown eclipses her features at his sudden change in attitude.

_2:14pm_

_hey I think I’m gonna head down to the garage and practice_

_2:15pm_

_but thanks for keeping me company_

_2:18pm_

_tell Jug I said hi_

* * *

 

It all goes wrong so quickly.

They all go to Cheryl’s party together, everyone except Jughead who decided he’d rather spend the evening writing than getting drunk with the popular kids. Val’s ditched him for Josie almost as soon as they’ve entered Thornhill, while Kevin and a certain blonde disappear into the crowd not too long after.

He and Veronica are left on their own and Cheryl quickly inserts herself into their conversation with her usual grace. He’s actually grateful when Reggie calls his name, until he’s telling him that Chuck is boasting about how he’s finally going to get revenge on _Polly’s sister_ , and he feels his stomach drop.

Veronica is the first to move, muttering to herself about stars, darkness, and a hot tub. Apparently she knows something he doesn’t.

He makes a mental note to thank Reggie later for coming to warn him as he worriedly follows the football captain out to Cheryl’s pool. The first thing he notices is that Kevin is nowhere in sight. He’s never had a reason to be mad at his friend but he’s suddenly pissed that he would leave her alone. His mind focuses on the situation and he watches as the disgraced football star and his friends surround her. She’s tipsily drinking from a red cup and doesn’t seem to notice the group of boys invading her space.

With Veronica’s help he manages to quickly extract her with minimal damage, doing their best to avoid a scene that would undoubtedly embarrass her later. Reggie helps hold Chuck off long enough for them to get to his car and he’s again thankful for his seemingly out of character behavior.

He drops Ronnie off first before driving them home, thanking whatever higher power was listening that her parents are both out of town for the weekend. He’ll have to ask her when she’s sober how she got them to leave her alone.

She refuses to let him help her upstairs so he leaves her giggling form at her front door with instructions to drink plenty of water and sleep on her stomach. He rushes back to his house and up to his window to check if she’s made it to her room alright. The sight that greets him is unexpected but he can’t force himself look away.

Dancing clumsily around her room in nothing but a pale blue bra and her jeans, she looks the happiest he’s seen her in months. He knows he shouldn’t watch, she probably doesn’t even realize her blinds are open, but he’s a creep and he won’t deny himself this glimpse of the carefree girl his best friend used to be; although clearly she’s not the same girl, she’s gone and grown up and he’s barely noticed.

He watches for a couple minutes, swearing he’ll look away in a second, until suddenly she stops in front of her mirror almost tipping over at the abrupt change in movement. She stares at herself with her back to him, her head tilting to the side.

He wonders what she’s thinking. There was a time when he would know exactly what was going on inside her head, but those days seem so long ago he’s not even sure they ever existed.

She stands there motionless for a long time until she raises one hand to smooth over her signature high pony while the other clenches into a tight fist at her side. He barely has time to question what she’s doing when her fist shoots out and punches the mirror. He’s out of his room and down the stairs before her knees have reached the ground, her body quaking with sobs.

He grabs the spare key from under the doormat and lets himself into the Cooper’s house and he can hear that what he’d thought were sobs are actually screams. He takes the stairs two at a time and bursts into her room where she is huddled on the floor screaming endlessly into the carpet. She lashes out when he tries to touch her but eventually collapses against him, now sobbing.

He helps her up and leads her to her bathroom, gently shushing her as he pulls out what he needs to fix her hand. She cries through the entire process as he first washes her hand before disinfecting and bandaging the wounds. She still seems unaware of what’s happening and it scares him; he’s not entirely sure it’s just from the alcohol.

Once he’s finished he gathers her back into his arms and tries to calm her. He has no clue what to say so he starts humming softly under his breath.

He soon remembers that she isn’t wearing a shirt. He wants to get her a change of clothes but he doesn’t want her to think he’s leaving, and frankly he doesn’t want to let her out of his sight.

He pulls her gently back into her bedroom and sits her down on her bed, careful to avoid the broken mirror. He goes to the drawer where he knows she keeps her pajamas and grabs the first pants and shirt he sees. He offers them to her and watches as she struggles to throw on the shirt, helping her navigate the sleeves.

When she stands and reaches for the button on her jeans he whips around to give her some privacy only turning back when he hears her stop moving.

She’s standing there looking so broken and he feels his heart breaking for her. The perfect girl he’d always seen her as had started to show her cracks over the last few months. This moment has been a long time coming and he’s just happy he can be here for her.

She doesn’t ask, but then again she doesn’t really have to. He puts a hand on her back, guiding her to the bed and pulls back her covers so she can slip in. He doesn’t want to sleep in his jeans but he doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable so he just removes his shirt and shoes before walking around to the other side of the bed, laying on his back so she can curl into his side.

He’ll get in trouble for this, and if her parents ever find out he’s as good as dead, but there’s no way he’s leaving her right now.

They lay together in silence for a while until she speaks for the first time since he’d dropped her off earlier, her voice hoarse and watery. _I love you Archie._

The words come quickly to his tongue, but he pauses before he can say them. Too many thoughts race through his mind. How does she mean it? Does she know how she means it right now? He’s not even sure he knows how he means it anymore. Should he say it when he doesn’t know?

When he finally whispers it back she’s already asleep. It’s probably for the best.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it maybe leave me a comment or some kudos? I'd love to hear what you think!


End file.
